November 30, 2007 10:00 PM

Full Court Press

With roughly three and a half weeks between thanksgiving break and winter break, a lot must get done. One might think that after the end of the fall term as the year settles into a rhythm, the level of intensity would settle too. However, because the marking period is truncated by breaks and it is (relatively speaking) a generally busy season after all, the school begins the winter term at a hum.

Of course, the winter sports are off and running, and I feel the basketball metaphor fitting. It works, generally, like this: a mere few weeks after the upcoming lengthy winter break, interim grades are due. Therefore, teachers need to accomplish as much as they can accomplish in these preceding three weeks, so too much time does not transpire without sufficient assessments. Material must be covered and tests must be given. Consider, too, that teachers want to maintain the momentum that they have established in the fall term, if not up the ante some. (I may be mixing metaphors, but they all have to do with enhancing the pressure students feel in terms of the academic venue.)

This is not a time to rest on the laurels of the fall term, splendid as they may be after all the hard work of the opening season. Another component of the experience is that one might not have entirely built the sort of confidence one has acquired, say, by the end of winter term, when the year is two thirds complete and success is nearly assured. So, students come back from a pleasant vacation and face some very real pressure to perform well and frequently.

That is not to mention all external--by external I mean non-school related--pressures in what is a very busy time of year. In terms of the calendar year, also, there is a psychological element--even though the new year begins something substantive, there is still five months of school, with only four complete--a long way to go. Nevertheless, students are at it with optimism and energy, alive and happily busy learning what they must. Just like in a basketball game, when the press is on, you respond with focus, diligence, enthusiasm. It is a fun time to be at school because the air is alive with activity.